POCATELLO, Idaho – Playing for the first time in a NCAA football game since Nov. 12, 2011, senior tight end Joe Don Duncan showed little rust after sitting out the entire 2012 season with an injury. Two of his seven grabs were in the end zone, accounting for both Dixie State scores Saturday afternoon at Holt Arena.
But the pace of the Idaho State spread offense proved to be too much as the host Bengals defeated the Red Storm 40-14 in a season opening, non-conference contest.
“We had a difficult time preparing for them,” said senior quarterback Griff Robles. “We did not have any film. They did a good job disguising their fronts.”
Idaho State improved to 1-0, while DSU fell to 0-1. The loss also keeps the Red Storm winless all-time against NCAA Division I-FCS opponents (0-9).
The first of Duncan’s scores came in the first quarter, tying the game at 7-7, off a four-yard strike from Robles. Earlier in the drive, Randon Willard pushed the Red Storm into Bengal territory with a 58-yard reception return.
Idaho State built a 34-7 cushion scoring 27 points unanswered from midway in the first quarter to midway in the third. Quarterback Justin Arias threw for 439 yards and a pair of scores leading ISU to 580 total yards of offense.
“Our effort was there,” said Robles. “Little mistakes led to stalled drives. I got sacked a few times, but not necessarily due to poor blocking. There were a few missed routes and I made a few bad reads. I think we showed that we could play with Idaho State. If we clean up the errors, the effort and athleticism is there.”
The Bengals scored on seven of nine trips into the red zone despite the Storm defense displaying some of its best work backed up near the goal line. Defensive tackle Saula Taufa recorded a seven-yard tackle for loss to force ISU into a field goal late in the first quarter.
In the second quarter after Robles fumbled to put ISU in prime field condition, newcomer Zac Christian picked off an Arias pass near the front pylon to keep the Bengals out of the end zone. Safeties Daniel Moffett and Robert Metz led the team with eight tackles. Jake Duncan had eight stops including two for loss.
Mitch Frei matched the offensive output from Duncan with seven catches for 65 yards. Willard followed with three grabs for 68 yards. Robles ended the night 23-of-38 passing for 242 yards.
“Griff (Robles) was very crisp today, especially in the first half,” said Frei. “They gave us the flats, and Griff made some difficult passes.”
Dixie State returns to action next Saturday at home against Azusa Pacific. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Hansen Stadium. Members of the 2013 DSU Athletics Hall of Fame will be honored at halftime.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
—————– — — — — —–
Dixie St ………… 7 0 7 0 – 14 Record: (0-1)
Idaho State……… 10 14 10 6 – 40 Record: (1-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:50 ISU – Xavier Finney 16 yd run (Brendon Garcia kick), 6-77 1:21, DIXIE 0 – ISU 7
08:52 DIXIE – Duncan,Joe Don 4 yd pass from Robles,Griff (Myers,Mike kick), 8-78 2:52, DIXIE 7 – ISU 7
05:31 ISU – Brendon Garcia 27 yd field goal, 10-74 3:13, DIXIE 7 – ISU 10
2nd 07:42 ISU – Luke Austin 8 yd pass from Justin Arias (Brendon Garcia kick), 7-67 2:28, DIXIE 7 – ISU 17
00:05 ISU – Justin Arias 19 yd run (Brendon Garcia kick), 3-53 0:23, DIXIE 7 – ISU 24
3rd 10:24 ISU – Xavier Finney 12 yd pass from Justin Arias (Brendon Garcia kick), 2-42 0:23, DIXIE 7 – ISU 31
09:21 ISU – Brendon Garcia 40 yd field goal, 4-2 1:00, DIXIE 7 – ISU 34
02:47 DIXIE – Duncan,Joe Don 6 yd pass from Robles,Griff (Myers,Mike kick), 11-38 4:19, DIXIE 14 – ISU 34
4th 11:06 ISU – Brendon Garcia 33 yd field goal, 7-42 1:44, DIXIE 14 – ISU 37
00:14 ISU – Brendon Garcia 24 yd field goal, 13-82 5:11, DIXIE 14 – ISU 40
RUSHING: Dixie St.-Burton,Myles 8-23; Davis,Joel 8-5; Robles,Griff
15-minus 14. Idaho State-Xavier Finney 15-83; Justin Arias 10-27; Daniel McSurdy
5-13; Aaron Prier 8-11; Chad Hansen 1-7.
PASSING: Dixie St.-Robles,Griff 23-38-0-242. Idaho State-Justin Arias
29-45-1-439.
RECEIVING: Dixie St.-Duncan,Joe Don 7-78; Frei,Mitch 7-65; Willard,Randon
3-68; Morton,Antonio 2-7; Davis,Joel 2-4; Porrazzo,Matt 1-13; Smith,Jamal 1-7.
Idaho State-C. Richmond 9-149; Luke Austin 7-119; Chad Hansen 4-32; Tyler Wright
3-52; Xavier Finney 3-29; Josh Cook 1-27; Daniel McSurdy 1-26; Aaron Prier 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: Dixie St.-Christian,Zac 1-0. Idaho State-None.
FUMBLES: Dixie St.-Davis,Joel 2-1; Robles,Griff 2-1. Idaho State-Justin
Arias 2-1; Jon Davidson 1-1.
Stadium: Holt Arena Attendance: 5585
Kickoff time: 3:05 pm End of Game: 6:05 Total elapsed time: 3:00
Officials: Referee: Gregg Wilson; Umpire: C. Butterfield; Linesman: Bret Shaw;
Line judge: Dale Keller; Back judge: Tad Campbell; Field judge: Gyle Thornhill;
Side judge: Jeffrey Young;
Temperature: 72
SACKS (UA-A): Dixie St.-Tripp,Chad 1-0. Idaho State-James Bergren 0-2;
P.J. Gremaud 1-1; Jake Pele 0-2; Austin Graves 0-2; Kurt Karstetter 1-0; David
Forester 0-1; Tyler Kuder 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Dixie St.-Metz,Robert 7-1; Moffett,Daniel 3-5; Duncan,
Jake 6-1; Christian,Zac 4-2; Munns,Garland 4-1; Richards,Austen 3-1; Boyer,K.J.
2-2; Bostic,Will 2-2; Smith,Jamal 2-2; Largent,Nick 2-1; Galway,Marquece 2-1;
Perkins,DeShawn 1-2; Tuiasosopo,Eldon 1-1; Smith,Alshondre 1-1; Curtis,Jordan
1-1; Miller,Jake 1-1; Best,R.J. 1-1; Curtis,Brian 1-0; Gibson,Sean 1-0;
Myers,Mike 1-0; Oakley,Trevor 1-0; Longshore,Ben 1-0; Tripp,Chad 1-0;
Taufa,Saula 1-0; Patton,Bobby 0-1; Solorzano,Tyler 0-1; Ehinger,Tim 0-1;
Greenwood,Tyson 0-1. Idaho State-Mitch Beckstead 6-3; Austin Graves 6-2; Taison
Manu 4-1; Cody Sorensen 1-4; Cameron Gupton 4-0; Jake Pele 2-2; P.J. Gremaud
2-2; Jon Davidson 3-0; Tyler Kuder 3-0; K. McCaffery 2-1; David Forester 1-2;
James Bergren 1-2; Brandon Golden 2-0; C.J. Langlow 1-1; Kurt Karstetter 1-1;
Trevor Spence 1-1; Hayden Stout 1-0; Erik Nelson 1-0; Taylor Regan 1-0; Chris
Edwards 1-0; Kimo Makaula 1-0; Vai Peko 0-1; Tanner Davis 0-1.
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